996's look like the bargain of the century

[cueman]

Hi to all. I sold my last 911 because i ended up only using it for the 3mile station run, and it sat in the garage at weekends as it was unsuitable for chauffeuring the kids around. Altho i've found the R32 to be a fantastic little car, I started to think about what i'd get next, maybe in spring next year. Was toying with the idea of M3 CSL, with a view to finding a car i could track occasionally, but still use day to day. Then in a moment of inspiration, i checked out the prices of the 996... and can't believe what good value they are. For 20-25k you get one of the best sports cars ever made, but 5 or 6 yrs old. They look even better value vs 993's, which seem very expensive in comparison. While i can see that the 993 has contemporary looks, and so should/will hold it's value well (like the old 3.2's), the difference in price seems unjustified. In my experience the 993 was not as raw or as much fun as the 3.2, but not refined enough to get anywhere close to the 997, feeling very old in comparison.

Having now got another car for taking the kids and their clobber around, i think i'll start to look for an early 996 (or even gt3 depending on price) at the end of the year.

Or have i got this wrong, and i'm missing something??

 

[SNDa]

I'm surprised / worried (from a selfish perspective) that you'd be able to get 2001 / 2002 996s for £20-25k! really?

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Agree with SNDa, not likely. And if you're after a GT3 then that will be 40k+ (rhd), so not in the same price range.
However, good spot, they do make excellent value for money these days, although the M3 CSL does represent amazing value for money now too.
Good luck!

 

[cueman]

ORIGINAL: SNDa

I'm surprised / worried (from a selfish perspective) that you'd be able to get 2001 / 2002 996s for £20-25k! really?

you're probably right, for a good one. Have not spent much time looking, so i'm no expert, but Pistonheads have about 20+ between 20 and £25k, mostly pre2000, but a few 2000 and 2001 models in there. Possibly right dogs for all i know. Yes, GT3 looks like high 30's to 40k ish to start.

have driven a couple of 996;s on a track before, but didnt sopend much time. I assume that they're much more like 997 to drive than 993....

 

[Diesel130]

Having spent 18 months finding a nice 996 C2 and getting one earlier this year, my experience is the ones going for the low 20's are either:-

a) older 97, 98 or 99 model year cars, (which isn't bad, but just means you won't be able to continue the OPC warrantee for much longer (if at all))
b) high mileage / non fsh versions
c) unpopular options on them (e.g. red with savannah and tiptronic)
c) Cat C or D recorded or
d) all of the above.

The cheapest I saw was £18,000 (which was a 98 model, red 996 with 130K miles on the clock).

£25 to 27K should get you a nice 2000 model, 28K to 30K for a 2001 model, but then there tends to be a jump of 3K to 4K for the facelift model. I'd be surprised if you can get a 5 year car for sub 25K unless there's someing odd about it.

That said, the 996 is a wonderful car for the money and if you are not bothered about the warrantee and/or have another maintenance plan lined up, then you'd do a lot worse than finding a 99 model as a private sale from an owner who's looked after it well for around 24K.

Hope that helps.

 

[cueman]

very helpful, thanks. I'm sure there can easily be a diff of 5-7k between a sensible mileage well maintained, and a tatty one. I think if i can get a well looked after one for mid 20's, 98-00 that would be a result. Persoanlly more concerned with conditon than age.
....I know someone that paid 30k for 1994 993 cab (albeit ultra low mileage) . hmmm..

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

Martin

I agree with what you say with the exception of (c). With the greatest of respect, they may not be your choice, but they are someone else's. I see an early 996 in my area regularly - Guards Red and Savannah. It looks absolutely stunning. As for tiptronic, depending on use, some people actually look for tips rather than manuals.

 

[Diesel130]

Richard,

I totally agree with you that colour and choice of gearchange is a personal choice and certainly may well be the preferred choice of others. I also think that a 996 in Guards Red looks stunning and certainly refreshing compared to all the silver and black ones (like mine!) ... but, I still think you'll find that, especially dealers trying to sell a 9 year old car, will find that - given two choices which are equal apart from
a) being silver / black / manual or
b) red / tiptronic / savannah
- will find it harder to shift the red car and hence that ends up being reflected in the price they can command for the car.

 

[Diesel130]

Cueman, yes - that's what I did. Got a well looked after 2000 year car for mid 20's with fsh and 46K miles in the colour I wanted. Took 18months to find it, but worth it in the end. The reason I went for a 2000, rather than 98 was for being able to have 3 years of OPC warrantee on it and a few other improvements that were made in the 98 to 2000 period

 

[Richard_Hamilton]

And there's me thinking that "red is the new black"...[][]

I hear what you say, but there is a part of me that wishes I had been a bit bolder and gone for a red 996. If it had been cheaper, that would have been a bonus. Given that red and yellow 996s are rarer, you would have expected them to be at a premium. Not sure if that proves your point........[][]

 

[Rodney Naghar]

My Boxster was Arena Red with Savannah interior and tiptronic...to many.....the devil's car.
I know when I bought it I (maybe stupidly) paid a hefty premium for it rather than purchase one in dullsville silver.

I do agree that they may be harder colours to shift, and this maybe reflected in the price (especialy come trade in time), but when it comes to cars in the lower price bracket, where depreciation is not so much of an issue, and the sheer number of buyer's is much larger it may be to your benefit.
You may be able to buy it slightly cheaper from a dealer, but I doubt you will have trouble selling it privately.

After advertising mine on Autotrader I got 11 phone calls in 1 day and sold it to the first person that saw it.[]

 

[cueman]

Diesel130, sounds like an ideal car, welldone. I cant think of any other car of that age, quality, performance and price that comes anywhere near it. Am going to start looking in a few months. I have to keep the r32 for at least a year in total, otherwise my wife of 20yrs will divorce me, seeing as my average time of ownership has steadily declined over the last few years to about 9mths!

cheers

 

[geoffpfc]

Don'y buy a Porsche without service history (receipts req'd not just a stamped book) and a Warranty.

 

[sawood12]

I've spotted plenty of sub £25k 996's in both C2 and C4 variants. They are all around 60k - 70k miles and most have full Porsche service history's and on the face of it seem as good cars as you can get. I've also seen several sub £50k x50 996 turbo's and GT3's all apparently as pukka as you want based on the description. Now is a good time to buy a 996! I'm certainly tempted. Afteral it was the first 911 made in really big production numbers so you could argue that the depreciation should be the same as other cars.

Facelift ones are still fetching good money though from what I can see.

 

[Stewart H]

Now is a really good time to buy an early 996, especially if it has had the engine replaced. Late 993s have now stopped dropping in price and good ones have overtaken the early 996s. You get so much for your money at the moment and if you are prepared to buy in autumn/winter, I rekon you can do better still in a few months time.

 

[Rodney Naghar]

Facelift ones are still fetching good money though from what I can see.

That's what I like to hear!
Keep up the good work![]

I agree prices are so low that these cars on the second hand market have absolutely no competition.

 

[rob.kellock]

ORIGINAL: geoffpfc

Don'y buy a Porsche without service history (receipts req'd not just a stamped book) and a Warranty.

whilst not wanting to tempt fate... if you've got the former, surely you can choose whether or not to buy the latter? Some may view the warranty as rather expensive insurance but then that debate will rage for all time with winners and losers on both sides. Huge premium for facelift cars is great news though and must be promoted at every available opportuntity []

 

[Dylan1]

ORIGINAL: sawood12

I've spotted plenty of sub £25k 996's in both C2 and C4 variants. They are all around 60k - 70k miles and most have full Porsche service history's and on the face of it seem as good cars as you can get. I've also seen several sub £50k x50 996 turbo's and GT3's all apparently as pukka as you want based on the description. Now is a good time to buy a 996! I'm certainly tempted. Afteral it was the first 911 made in really big production numbers so you could argue that the depreciation should be the same as other cars.

Facelift ones are still fetching good money though from what I can see.

dont want to put a dampener on things but i suspect they will follow suit....[] my facelift 2003 dropped 10k in a year

 

[Rodney Naghar]

dont want to put a dampener on things but i suspect they will follow suit....[] my facelift 2003 dropped 10k in a year

Yes yes, that was just after you bought it new....prices are going up I tells ya!![]

 

[Dylan1]

from yr2-yr 3actually rodney[]same as yrs0-1-2
hopefully flattened out a bit after 3rd yr for those of you still with them[]